Railway car construction



April l2, 1932. w. P. MURPHY RAILWAY CAR CONSTRUCTION Original FiledJan. 14, 1929 Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITEDy STATES insane rma-:NrIortica WALTER P. MURPHY, 0]."` CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNIONMETAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAIVARERAILWAY .CAR CONSTRUCTION Original application led January 14, 1929,Serial No. 332,326.y Divided and this application filed .Tune 22,

tion of a pair of swingable doors in a rail-V way freight car, whichspreader is operated by any of the numerous door yraising mechanisms nowbeing marketed. `A further object of the invention is to provide such aspreader or beam with spaced apart portions, each of which preferablyengages one .of the swingabledoors preferably adjacent its verticalmedial line, whereby the spreaderforms an equalizing lever. Any forceappliedy by the operating mechanism` adjacent the middle of the spreaderis substantially equally distributed to the two doors, and furthermore,the force transmitted to one of the doors by the spreader issubstantially equally distributed to the oppositey vertical edges or'margins of the door.

A further object of the invention is to reduce the cost and weight ofthe spreader and car by forming it of a casting so that the metal can beevenly distributed commensurate with the stresses.

Another object of the invention i s to engage the spreader with the dooradjacent a stiifening rib or ribs so that the stresses caused by theshifting of the door will not be taken by the body portion of the door.

In the drawings:

Figs. l and 2 show the preferred form ofV my device.

In a so-called hopper car the lower portion of the car on each side ofthe center sills or center ridge is formed into a hopper, each hopperbeingprovided with a swingable door. simultaneous operation by aspreader operated by a mechanism connected to the middle vportionthereof and positioned between the center sills and under the ridge forprotection from the lading and provided with ay shaft extending toopposite sides of the car` for operation by a wheel or wrench. There arenumerous types of hopper dump cars 1n These doors are connected forrSerial No. 545,979.

service on the railways with the hopper so positioned as to dischargethe load between the rails and some designed to discharge the loadoutside of the rails and there are also sot called general service carsof the gondola type having flat floors comprising a plurality of hingeddoors, such doors being hinged to the center construction so as loadoutside of the rails.

dump cars used in the coke service having a licor sloping toward oneside of the car with the sideV wallcomprising a plurality of swingabledoors to discharge the coke all on one to discharge the There are alsoside of the car. My invention is adaptable tofany one of the abovedescribed cars, or in fact, to any car having two or more doorssimultaneously closed by a single operative mechanism.

In the form of my invention illustrated,

each end of the spreader is formed of a U-shaped construction 48 whichoverlaps the reinforcing central rib 49 of the door and is preferablysecured thereto by the bolt 50 or other similar means. The inner portion51 and the side portion 52 of the U-shaped construction yof the spreaderpreferably fit the adjacent parts of the rib so as to provide asubstantially rigid construction between the rib and the spreader.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that! vawith a reinforcing rib, and a spreader having spacedapart U-shaped portions, each straddling the reinforcing rib of one ofsaid doors n and rigidly secured thereto.

2. In a railway car, a pair of hinged dumpu ing doors, each having abody ypart provided with a reinforcing rib formed with a straightcentral member with other members extending to the corners of the door,and a spreader having spaced apart U-shaped portions, each straddlng thesaid central member of the rib of one of said doors and rigidly securedthereto.

WALTER P. MURPHY.

